OFK BaÃÂka (Serbian Cyrillic: ÃÂäàÃÂðÃÂúð) is a football club based in BaÃÂka Palanka, Serbia, that competes in the Serbian League Vojvodina. In 2016, the club achieved promotion to the Serbian SuperLiga. It is known as one of the most successful football clubs in Serbia at the all-time table of the Yugoslav Second League.
The club was founded in 1945 and plays in the stadium Stadion Slavko Maletin Vava, capacity of 2,500, which was officially inaugurated on 7 July 1951. In 1959, BaÃÂka achieved promotion to the Yugoslav Second League group East, but, at the end of the 1959âÂÂ60 season, ended up being relegated. However, a bright sign was that BaÃÂka striker Petar Remete became league top-scorer in 1960. BaÃÂka returned to Second League in the 1961âÂÂ62 season and this time stayed in the national second level for 14 consecutive years.
Its major accomplishment was the promotion to the 1988âÂÂ89 Yugoslav Second League which was a unified second league. This edition of the Second League, compared to the previous ones BaÃÂka played in, was stronger because it was a unified Second League in which clubs from all over Yugoslavia played, thus it was more restricted and difficult to qualify for, while the other editions from the 1960s and 1970s had the Second League divided into two groups, East and West. In total, during the Yugoslav period, BaÃÂka spent 16 seasons in the Second League.
In the Yugoslav Cup, BaÃÂka best performance was in the 1968âÂÂ69 edition when BaÃÂka reached the quarter-finals, not advancing further because they were stopped by one of the Yugoslav "Big Four", Hajduk Split, who got to eliminate BaÃÂka by 2âÂÂ1 only after extra-time. BaÃÂka managed to qualify to the final stages of the national cup on several occasions, the next being in the 1993âÂÂ94 FR Yugoslavia Cup when they lost in the last 16 against RadniÃÂki Nià ¡.
After the 1988âÂÂ89 season in the Second League, during the following two decades, the club played mostly in the third national level, the Serbian League Vojvodina, occasionally dropping to the BaÃÂka Zone League at times when the financial crisis in the club was more notorious.
The rise started when BaÃÂka won the 2012âÂÂ13 Vojvodina League West. Immediately afterwards, BaÃÂka won the 2013âÂÂ14 Serbian League Vojvodina thus qualifying to the Serbian First League, the second national level. It only took two seasons in the first league for BaÃÂka to finish second in the 2015âÂÂ16 edition and this way directly qualified for the Serbian SuperLiga. The 2016âÂÂ17 Serbian SuperLiga was the first time in the club's history that BaÃÂka played in the national top level. Soon after they were relegated, but did manage to secure promotion back to the Serbian SuperLiga by claiming 3rd spot in the 2019âÂÂ20 Serbian First League.
The name of the club always was FK BaÃÂka. It comes from the region of BaÃÂka where the city BaÃÂka Palanka is located. The club should not be confused with another ones with same name, like FK BaÃÂka 1901 or FK BaÃÂka Mol, or another with similar name, FK TSC (formerly FK BaÃÂka Topola). OFK BaÃÂka never played in Yugoslav highest level, but in 2016 got to be promoted to the Serbian SuperLiga. In summer 2015, club name changed to OFK BaÃÂka.
The BaÃÂka stadium, known as Stadion Slavko Maletin Vava, was inaugurated on the date the city of BaÃÂka Palanka celebrates its slava, July 7, 1951. It has a capacity of 5,500. The west stand is completely covered while the east stand is not. The stadium is located in downtown of BaÃÂka Palanka.
The first field where FK BaÃÂka played was where the old railway station was located. As the club was growing and gaining popularity, a decision was made to relocate the stadium from the outskirts to the city center where it still stands. Its location is in an exclusive part of the town, 20 meters from the city center and the pedestrian area.
The stadium is known for its high attendance. The biggest one recorded was on March 12, 1969, in a Yugoslav Cup quarter-finals game against Hajduk Split, when 10.000 spectators were present inside.
For the list of all current and former players with Wikipedia article, please see: .
In April 1947 BaÃÂka got his first professional coach, Vladimir Jurak from Zagreb, and ever since a number of paid professional coaches came, like Ilija Rankoviàfrom Belgrade, László Bozóky from Hungary, Josip Takaàfrom Subotica and Gojko Dà ¾epina from Belgrade.
In addition to a number of audiences and supporters BaÃÂka has ardent fans. They gather in the eastern stand.